


Light Blue

by thanku4urlove



Series: Soulmates - Colors [1]
Category: Hey! Say! JUMP, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Color Blindness, Fluff, M/M, Originally Posted on LiveJournal, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 12:10:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20796425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanku4urlove/pseuds/thanku4urlove
Summary: A world of black and white monochrome is extremely frustrating for Nakajima Yuto, wanting to meet his soulmate for no reason other then to have colors begin appearing. In the middle of his second year in high school, his class gets a new student.





	Light Blue

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in 2015, but I still love it. This universe might not be finished.

"What do you think the color yellow looks like?"

Yamada raised an eyebrow, not looking up from the chemistry textbook on his desk.

"Ask Chinen." He answered, shrugging. Yuto let his head fall back on to his shoulders, sighing.

"I don't want to ask Chinen." He grumbled. "I want to see it myself."

Yamada was too buried in his book--and had heard this exact complaint too many times--to offer much sympathy.

"You will, Yutti. Just wait."

They had all been taught colors in their first year of education, told to memorize the identifying names and the varying shades of gray that they represented, though in all honesty sometimes they looked the same, so it didn't much matter yet. They had also been told that they were going to meet someone very special one day, and then the colors were going to appear; usually, red appeared first. They would all see yellow eventually, they just had to wait.

Just wait.

Yuto was tired of waiting. Chinen, a friend of theirs in a younger grade, had started seeing colors at the beginning of the school year, when he began talking to a new kid that was moving in next door. While the word "soulmate" made Yuto's stomach flutter, especially at such a young and unsure age, Chinen hadn't been very bothered by the terminology, the two of them dating soon after a cardinal pop of color appeared on one of Ryutaro's shirts. Yuto was extremely happy for him of course, but at the same time had difficulty suppressing the tiny tinge of bitterness he had at the slight unfairness of the situation. He wanted what Chinen had: a soulmate. He was sure the unconditional affection was nice, and he would like to fall in love with someone, but more than that he was positive that the curiosity was going to kill him.

"Quiet down, everyone!" The teacher exclaimed as he walked in. He had on the usual white shirt and black pants, but what caught Yuto's attention was the tie he was wearing. It looked gray, but then again, so did everything else; as he did every morning, Yuto wondered what color it was. Usually he asked, and was about to do so when the man spoke again.

"Listen up! We have a new student."

The last two words caught everyone's attention easily, the class falling into an expectant hum. The teacher beckoned towards the open door, a teenage boy walking in a second later. He gave the class a smile that was obviously the result of terrible nervousness, then directed his gaze at his feet.

"His name is Okamoto Keito, and he just moved here from England, so he's the one to ask for English help." Their teacher said, laughing a little to himself. "That seat in the back is free, Okamoto; you can sit there."

Nodding and giving a brief thanks, Okamoto made his way to the back of the classroom. His hair was dark enough to undoubtedly be black, and he wasn't wearing the school's uniform yet, instead in jeans and a sweater. The sweater looked like it matched his hair, and Yuto had been told by his mother that jeans were blue.

Okamoto tripped over the leg of his own desk, catching himself without extreme difficulty, as though losing his footing was a common occurrence. He looked around the room sheepishly but no one but Yuto had noticed his stumble, everybody else turned to the front as the teacher began his lesson. Okamoto's cheeks darkened, becoming less pale, and the sight made Yuto smile; Okamoto smiled back a little before Yuto turned his attention to the front of the room. When their lunch break came Yuto twisted around in his seat, watching Okamoto pull his lunch from his bag. Yuto decided that since the other knew English, he himself should try an English greeting.

_ "Hey man! How is it hanging?"_

Yamada snorted into his lunch box next to him, also turning in Okamoto's direction. Okamoto himself looked rather concerned, almost scared, Yuto immediately worrying that he had mispronounced a word or two and had accidentally threatened Okamoto's grandmother instead of saying hello.

"I'm sorry?" Okamoto said after a few terribly humiliating moments of silence.

"I meant to say hi, did I not say hi?" Yuto asked apologetically.

"Why couldn't you just greet him normally?" Yamada asked.

"I wanted to try an English one! Cause, you know--"

"This is Nakajima Yuto." Yamada said to Okamoto, gesturing in Yuto's general direction. "I'm Yamada Ryosuke and I'm hungry, so..." He waved a hand dismissively, turning back to his lunch. Okamoto gave Yuto a small smile.

"Sorry." Yuto said, Okamoto quickly shaking his head.

"It's okay. I'm Okamoto Keito, and..." Okamoto trailed off, seemingly unable to think of something else to say. His face darkened like it had before, and again Yuto found himself grinning.

"So, you used to live in England?" Yuto asked, trying to find a conversation starter. However, Okamoto only nodded, ducking his head and not meeting Yuto's eyes. Then Yamada poked him, textbook out again--Yuto didn't understand why his friend couldn't just do the reading at home, like everyone else did--asking him a biology question. That was the end of their conversation.  
They didn't talk much, but not for Yuto's lack of trying. Okamoto was very, very shy, Yuto learned; he did more listening than speaking, and when he did open his mouth the British accent in his Japanese was painfully evident. Yuto loved it though, finding himself asking Okamoto questions just to hear his embarrassed, one-word responses. Yuto didn't have much time to ask questions because usually, Okamoto was busy. Before school he had his Japanese textbook out, copying down kanji and mumbling to himself; he spent lunch in the library, and went home directly after school. Yuto wasn't too bothered though. He still had Yamada sitting next to him that he could annoy. They stayed comfortable acquaintances, without much cause to change, until their teacher assigned Independent Research projects in geography.

Sighing, Yuto packed up his books once the school day ended and made his way to the library. The project wasn't going to be difficult but that didn't mean Yuto wanted to do it, searching the library's database for a book to check out. It didn't take too long to find a promising reference resource, one copy of one available on the shelf. However, when he went to find it, the book was missing. Curious, Yuto went up to the librarian's assistant to ask about it.

"The book is gone?" Yabu asked, coming out from behind the checkout counter. "Are you sure the computer said it wasn't checked out?"

Yuto nodded, but Yabu checked the computer anyway. When he saw Yuto was right, he straightened his back and crossed his arms.

"It should be there." Yabu said, eyebrows furrowed. "You looked for a huge green book with the word 'Miyazaki' across it, right?"

Yuto gave Yabu a look. It took the man a moment to realize what he'd said.

"Sorry! I forget sometimes..."

"It's okay." Because Yuto had asked everyone, he had asked Yabu if or when he had been able to see colors. Yabu had been seeing colors for at least half his life, and mentioning them had become so second nature that usually the lanky male didn't even notice it. Yuto desperately wished he'd just fallen in love with a childhood friend.

"Maybe someone in the library has the book?" Yabu suggested, squinting and scanning the room. His eyes rested on a table to their left and in the back, pointing as subtly as possible.

"Over there; go ask him."

Yuto smiled when he realized it was Okamoto, making his way over. Okamoto didn't even realize he was there until he pulled out a chair for himself, glancing up.

"You beat me to the book I wanted." Yuto said. Okamoto was immediately apologetic.

"It's fine," Yuto said before he could say anything. "I thought it would be a good book for the project, and you did too."

"Did you want to use it?" Okamoto asked, but Yuto shook his head.

"No. I mean yes, but you're already... Want to just both read out of it?" Yuto proposed. Okamoto nodded, sliding the book over. Yuto was in the middle of some useless facts about the polar ice caps when he realized he had been drumming his fingers incessantly against the table the whole time he had been reading.

"I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, making Okamoto jump a bit. "Was I bothering you?"

He was met with a confused head shake.

"Okay... I was hitting my fingers against the table and I know that can be annoying, sorry. I play the drums, so it's a bit of a habit."

"You play the drums?" Okamoto asked. He sounded genuinely interested, and Yuto smiled.

"I do! I have a set at home. Do you play anything?"

"Just guitar." Okamoto mumbled in response. "My dad gives lessons, and he taught me."

"That's cool!" Yuto said, though he could tell Okamoto didn't quite feel the same. "We should jam out sometime. How long has your dad been a teacher?"

The geography book lay forgotten between them as conversation quickly deteriorated. While they stayed roughly around the topic of music, much of what they discussed was very different; Yuto was in the middle of declaring his love for the Red Hot Chili Peppers--after Okamoto had tried to correct his pronunciation four times, that is--when Yabu walked up to them, an apologetic look on his face.

"I don't want to interrupt anything but it's almost six. I'll need to close up soon."

"It's almost six o'clock?" Yuto asked back, shocked. It felt impossible for them to have been talking for that long. However, Yabu nodded, shrugging.

"Could I have your number?" Yuto asked Okamoto. He seemed a bit flustered by the question, nodding and digging around in his school bag for his cell phone. Yuto sent himself a text with it, then smiled, handing the geography book to Yabu and walking with Okamoto out of the building.

"Make sure you text me." Yuto told him. "We need to set up that jam session."

Okamoto nodded, Yuto waving and heading home.

Okamoto did text him, but that was the only time he texted Yuto first--Yuto had to initiate everything else. He didn't much mind though, especially because he would usually get a reply less than a minute later.

They did end up having that jam session, and not too long after talking about it either; Okamoto, his guitar, and a plate of cookies all made their way into Yuto's bedroom one weekend, Yuto sitting down behind his drum set. Okamoto was nervous and Yuto could tell, but a few dumb jokes and some playing on his own was enough to diffuse the tension a bit. They mostly just messed around on their instruments, Yuto starting a beat and Okamoto playing along. Near the end they began looking up the guitar and drum parts to old songs and attempting to read through them. Yuto even began to sing, but Okamoto was either too embarrassed or not as passionate as Yuto was about "burning love" to join in.

After that, the casual "Okamoto-kun," turned into a loud and excited "Keito!" and they were joined at the hip. Keito was fantastic, and fun to be around, and his attention made Yuto feel like he was glowing.

Yuto was aware of how much time he was spending with Keito, and would try to invite Yamada with them at every opportunity. More often than not Yamada turned him down, saying not to worry about him, and he seemed genuine, so Yuto tried not to worry. He had a strange smile on his face whenever he declined, one that meant something, but it meant something more than Yuto knew or was willing to figure out. He didn't think about it much, not when there was Keito to spend time with.

"And then, to make this noun plural, you--Yuto, are you even listening?" Keito asked, laughing a bit. They were laying on the floor in Keito's room, and Keito trying to give him an English lesson, trying to go through a worksheet with him, but whenever he began speaking another language, more often than not, Yuto found himself mesmerized. He didn't care so much about the actual words Keito was saying, instead completely focused on the way his lips moved to form the foreign words, and the way they sounded rolling off his tongue.

"It's your fault!" Yuto exclaimed, hitting his arm. "You know I get distracted."

Keito smiled and nodded, rolling on to his side. Yuto propped his head up on his fist, elbow pressing into the carpet.

"What is England like?" He asked. Keito would talk about England sometimes, mentioning various events of stupidity or tree climbing with his friends, but he had never fully talked about it. Keito thought for a moment.

"It's a lot different, so here and there aren't very comparable. I didn't really remember how Japan would be, so coming back was really a shock."

"Okay..." Yuto rolled on to his back, face quite close to Keito's when he turned his head. "Which place is better?"

Keito fell into another contemplative silence. "Well, I grew up in England, and there is a lot less seafood over there, so that is nice. But... England doesn't have you, so it'll have to be put in second place."

"Hey, Keito." Yuto gave Keito's shoulder a nudge. "Don't get all... Icky on me."

Keito laughed, then sat up, bringing his attention back to the worksheet. A few moments and a sigh later, Yuto did the same.

"Is that necklace new?" Yamada asked pointing his chopsticks in Yuto's direction. Yuto nodded, placing his bento box down and beaming--he had hoped Yamada would notice.

"Keito made it for me. He has one just like it that his dad made him." It was a black guitar pick--one of Keito's own picks--with a hole in it, a chain threaded through. "Isn't it cool? He gave it to me yesterday at the music festival we went to. Mr. Okamoto knew almost everyone there, so we got to go and meet all of these famous people. It was awesome. Except we didn't get home until nearly two a.m... Keito fell asleep on my shoulder, and that left me and Mr. Okamoto in an awkward silence for a while. He's incredible though, Yamada. He's so cool. He's given Kanjani8's Nishikido Ryo guitar lessons before. Nishikido Ryo!"

Yamada had one amused eyebrow raised. "Fascinating." He said.

"And, since he's such a cool dad--and because we got back so late--he let Keito stay home from school today. Well, that and he said something about packing, but--"

"Yutti, can you see colors yet?" Yamada interrupted.

"What?" Yuto asked. The question caught him completely off guard, entire body freezing.

"Colors. With Keito. You have to be seeing them, right?"

Colors. Seeing colors. The one thing in life Yuto had been so dead set on, and he had completely forgotten about it. After Keito had come into his life, he had slowly but surely forgotten about them. They didn't seem so important anymore.

"...no." Yuto answered. "I haven't seen any colors."

"Seriously?" Yamada was in disbelief, mouth hanging open. "I was sure you two were falling in love. I was positive of it."

"I... I forgot about the whole colors thing, to be honest."

"Well, do you like Keito?" Yamada asked.

"Of course! I don't think I'm in love with him though. I think we're just friends." Yuto answered. This was his first time considering any of this, sinking into thought. Yamada on the other hand, was exasperated.

"I owe Chinen money now. Thanks Yuto."

Yuto picked his lunch back up, staring down at it, mind still reeling when he got a call from Keito.

"Hey!" Yuto chirped. Keito laughed, feeling close to his ear, and Yuto smiled, a bit of the tension already easing from his stomach.

"I have a request."

"Anything."

"...I was wondering if, for me if could you, I..."

"Keito?" Yuto asked, laughing a bit. He had heard Keito fumble his words like that before, but it usually only happened if he was nervous or embarrassed.

"Sorry." Keito took a breath, then tried again. "I'm actually going to be missing school for the rest of the week."

"Why?" Yuto asked. "You're not sick, are you?"

"No, nothing like that. My dad wants to go to England over summer break, but he booked the plane tickets a week early. He tried to play it off, and we're still going, but do you think you could get all the work I'm missing from our teachers today? We're leaving tomorrow morning and I don't want to fall behind."

"Of course!" The end of this week marked the beginning of summer break, and if Keito was leaving this week, he would be gone for over two months. Seven whole weeks without Keito. Yuto did as Keito asked, explaining to each teacher as he did. After calling his mother to notify her, he walked to Keito's house. Keito's dad answered the door when he got there, laughing, about five shirts on and all of them unbuttoned. He also had three pairs of sunglasses on his head, giving Yuto a smile.

"I have Keito's homework." He reported, and Kenichi gestured further into the house. Keito was in his room, closet door thrown open, a half packed suitcase resting at the foot of his bed.

"If you're wondering about my dad, he's just really bad at packing." Keito told him when he walked in.

"Here's your schoolwork." Yuto said, placing the papers on Keito's desk before hopping on his bed. "How's your packing going?" Yuto asked. Keito laughed a bit.

"It's alright."

"Where exactly are you going?"

Keito folded a shirt as he thought. "Probably wherever my dad wants." He answered. "Definitely around London, and we'll visit my old school--my classmates all think my dad is some kind of Japanese rock star, so they're excited to meet him, for some reason--and a bit of France. That's all we have planned."

This trip seemed like a very spur of the moment thing, and Yuto was a bit envious.

"Are you really going to be gone for seven weeks?" He asked. He tried to keep the pouty tone out of his voice because he knew Keito could--and would, even--feel bad if he seemed too put out about it. He did want Keito to go and have fun of course, but he wasn't looking forward to how much he knew he was going to miss him. Keito gave him an apologetic look.

"Yeah." he answered. "We're not even getting back until really late on Sunday, so Dad says I don't have to go on Monday if I don't want to, but I will. I'll want to see you."

Yuto beamed, and Keito's cheeks darkened again, doing the same thing they had done the first time they met and Keito had tripped over the leg of his desk. And again, it made Yuto smile despite himself, Keito walking back over to his open closet door.

"Did you want to change out of your school uniform?" Keito asked, a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt already in hand. Yuto nodded, accepting the clothes thrown to him and changing quickly. The t-shirt he received was loose and soft and smelled like Keito, and Yuto didn't ever want to take it off. Thankfully, he didn't have to, Mr. Okamoto waving a hand when they dropped Yuto off at his house that night, telling him there would be plenty of time to return it when they got back. When Yuto woke the next morning Keito and his father were already on the plane, and it was as though he could feel that Keito was gone, his presence missing.

To put it plainly, it sucked. Yuto did spend a lot of time with Chinen and Yamada, and that was as fun as always, but his thoughts drifted to Keito more often than not, and what it would be like if Keito were there, and he would always pull out his phone, remind himself not to bother Keito while he was on his vacation, then put it away. Though he didn't really have much of a way of knowing where exactly Keito was, he had put the time for London in his phone, checking it every once and a while. The time difference was eight hours; Keito would wake up a few hours before Yuto ate dinner, and by the time Yuto had to go to bed, for Keito it was only midafternoon. Keito would still text him though, sending him pictures of himself, his father, the scenery, or any interesting food. Yuto would respond, but Keito's replies usually came in the middle of the night.

The day Keito met up with his old friends was the day that Yuto got the most pictures. Pictures of his friends, pictures of Keito that we're taken by his friends. In one photo, a girl was hanging on his arm in a way that sparked something rather ugly in Yuto's stomach and he pushed is down, vowing to never feel that sensation again. Yuto was about to fall asleep that night when he got a text.

_ From: Keito_

_ if you and Keito ever get married you can come here for the ceremony!!!_

The text was entirely in English, so of course Yuto had no idea what it said, and when he asked Keito for a translation, Keito just said

_ From: Keito_

_ Nothing, James was just being silly._

There were four days left of Keito's trip when Yuto got a phone call. It was midnight and he was just lying in bed, playing games on his phone. The sound of his ring tone surprised him so much that his phone slipped through his fingers and fell on his face. Making a disgruntled noise of pain, Yuto rushed to answer it.

_ Incoming Call: Keito_

Already flustered from hitting himself in the face, Yuto was in no way ready to hear Keito's voice.

"Hello?"

"Yutorin?" Keito sounded slightly concerned, and at hearing him something ached in Yuto's chest. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I... Yeah." No need for Keito to know why his face hurt. "I'm surprised you're calling."

"I'm on a train in France." Keito said. "I was talking to my dad, but he fell asleep. I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"Oh, no." Yuto said quickly. "It would have been fine if you had anyway. It's nice to hear your voice."

"It's nice to hear yours too." Keito answered, and Yuto rolled on to his side, curling further into his blankets and pressing his phone to his ear.

"So, France? Do you know any French?"

"A little bit. Enough to keep us from getting too lost." Keito was talking quietly, and he sounded very close, almost as though his head was on Yuto's shoulder instead.

"Tell me something in French, then." Yuto requested. Keito was quiet for a few moments.

_ "Je t'aime."_

"What does it mean?"

Keito went quiet again, and this time he was silent for so long that Yuto was about to call him out for not knowing. Finally though, he said

"Nice shoes."

"How is that going to help you not get lost in France?" Yuto asked with a laugh.

"I don't know." Keito answered.

"Well, there could be these gangsters..." Yuto began a ridiculous, implausible story where the phrase "nice shoes" would come in handy, and it made Keito laugh. When the story was over it was near one a.m. and Yuto's eyes were drooping.

"The train is reaching the station in ten minutes, I should go." Keito said apologetically.

"Well... I may or may not be wearing the shirt you lent me, and I miss you a lot." Yuto finally said. He had been wanting to say so since he answered the phone.

"I miss you a lot too." Keito answered in a murmur, the ache in Yuto's chest growing stronger. "Bye Yutorin."

"Bye Keito."

Keito hung up, and Yuto rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. Then he sighed and decided to text a sleeping Yamada all of his problems.

"He's going to be back in three days Yuto. You've made it this far. You'll live." Yamada told him the next day. Instead of responding to any of the messages Yamada had simply come over with a box of doughnuts, insisting that Yuto needed sugary food and emotional support.

"Are you sure?" Yuto asked, and Yamada rolled his eyes.

"How are you not in love with him?" Yamada asked back, biting into a new doughnut. Yuto shrugged.

"I don't know. I haven't seen any colors, so..."

"Are you sure?"

"How could I not be sure?" Yuto sighed. In Keito's absence the problem of color blindness had come back to the front of his mind, and the constant reminder that he was living in black and white was as frustrating as ever. "I don't know what colors look like, but I still think I would realize it if I saw one."

"Maybe it's because he's not here." Yamada suggested. "I mean, you would like to be in love with Keito, right?"

"I..." Yuto glanced everywhere but Yamada's face. Truth be told, yes, he would, and would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it on more than one occasion.

"I'll take that as a yes." Yamada said with a grin.

"Maybe he's just not my soulmate." Yuto answered. Yamada gave Yuto a look, and Yuto could tell his friend didn't agree.

"Just wait for the three days until he gets back. Then we'll decide that."

Yuto did wait. Those three days were the longest of his life, with no contact from Keito until Sunday night. The first text came around dinner, an announcement that they were at the airport. There were two reports of delays, Yuto not seeing the _We're home_ text until he woke up the next morning; it had been sent near three a.m., and it made Yuto wonder if Keito was actually coming to school like he said he would. He became rather doubtful when he got to class and Keito wasn't there. He told himself that it was fine, and that he would just go over and see Keito after school, but as it got closer and closer to school starting he ended up deciding that he was simply going to skip class and go to Keito's house, already on his feet when Keito walked through the door.

His black hair was the same style but a little longer, skin a little less pale than it had been when Yuto had last seen him. Yuto's attention was drawn, however, to the tie around Keito's neck. It was the tie of their school uniform, and something about it was different. It wasn't the usual pale gray it had always been, but a splash that riveted his eyes immediately. It looked like the feeling of running soft silk through your fingers, or the sound of a gentle rain. Yuto's eyes flew to the color chart on the wall--every room of every school had one-- and saw a tiny chunk on the paler end of the spectrum, under the section labeled _**BLUE**_, was also colored in.

The ties were light blue.

Yuto met Keito's eyes again and Keito smiled, opening his arms a little. Yuto ran to him immediately, wrapping him up in a hug. Keito held him back just as tightly, Yuto's heart flipping happily in his chest.

Yuto did not pay much attention to the lesson that day, too distracted by all the blue in the room. Blue was astounding, light and beautiful. When he walked outside the room for lunch the entire sky was lit up in the color, stretching out endlessly before him. His breath caught in his throat and he had to pull his phone out, taking a picture and staring at it all throughout lunch.

"What is it Yutti?" Yamada asked. Yamada's chopsticks were blue.

Telling Yamada he could see colors the same day that Keito returned--with Keito sitting right next to him no less, their knees touching--would be the same as a love confession, so Yuto just shook his head and put his phone in his pocket.

"It's nothing."

Keito walked home with him, and Yuto was eventually able to sway his mother into letting him spend the night, despite it being a Monday. Keito laid next to him in bed and told him all about his trip; when Yuto woke the next morning, the leaves on the trees were a brilliant green.

They did all the same things, but it wasn't really the same. The world was rapidly lighting up because of Keito's smile, new boxes of color appearing on the color chart in their classroom. Excited reds and mellow purples and gentle yellows filled the world, and by the end of the month the whole color chart was filled in, Yuto so head-over-heels that functioning around Keito was near impossible. Keito was so beautiful; his eyes were brown, warm and comforting and dark enough to drown in. His lips were the color Yuto felt when Keito's hand found his arm or his knee or anywhere else, and they were incredibly tempting at times, but Yuto couldn't find the courage to give in.

Keito being his soulmate made the most sense in the world, but it didn't mean that he was Keito’s. Soulmates weren't as set in stone as they seemed to be in books and movies, and Yuto knew that if he wasn't Keito's soulmate, that if Keito didn't see colors with him, they would fall apart. Yuto didn't want to take that risk.

At the same time, he couldn't stand not knowing. He would drop hints in conversation, asking questions and stuff, but Keito's answers were never specific enough.

"Can your dad see colors?" Yuto asked one day. They were in Yuto's room again, and Keito had his guitar in his lap.

"Sort of?" Keito answered. "He doesn't see in black and white, but he doesn't see in color either. His vision is sepia, which apparently is varying shades of brown instead of black. Doctors can't tell if he wasn't really in love with my mom or if he's just some kind of colorblind because it didn't happen until after I was born."

Sepia was a word that Yuto had never heard before, furrowing his eyebrows. Keito shrugged, continuing.

"He says that it's because he loves me. He says that since it's not romantic love he can't see all the colors, just the color of my eyes. He also says that sepia is more punk rock than color vision, so he doesn't mind. I think he's just being dumb when he says things like that, but..."

Keito was smiling as he spoke, and Yuto could tell Keito didn't think his dad was dumb at all.

"Do you have a favorite color?" Yuto asked. "I mean... I like the way 'blue' sounds, so..." The difficult part of asking the questions was to also not give himself away.

"Yellow." Keito answered, giving Yuto a smile. "It's fun to say in English."

That didn't give the answer he was looking for, Yuto suppressing a sigh and twirling a drumstick between his fingers. He lamented to Yamada over the weekend, face down on Yamada's bedroom floor.

"Yutti, this is great! I can get my money back from Chinen now. Well, that and you have a soulmate."

"I have a soulmate." Yuto repeated, voice muffled by the carpet.

"Why aren't you excited about this?" Yamada asked. "Isn't it a good thing?"

"What if he doesn't see any colors, Yamada? What if he's not in love with me?"

That made Yamada fall silent. "I take it you haven't asked him then."

Yuto shook his head, groaning as he pulled himself into a sitting position.

"Do you want me to ask him?" Yamada offered. "He's sort of afraid of me for some reason, I'm sure I could shake he truth out of him."

Yamada was ecstatic about all of it, and Yuto was glad his friend was happy for him, but the idea of actually finding out made something in his stomach twist. He shook his head again.

"No, it's okay."

"Yuto, you have to know."

"But what if he doesn't--"

"But what if he does?" Yamada cut him off. Yuto knew Yamada was right. He did have to know, he could tell the curiosity would take him over at some point, pulling his phone out and dialing Keito's number.

"Are you going to ask him right now?" Yamada asked, slightly incredulous. Yuto looked at him.

"Should I not?

"You should ask him in person, shouldn't you? I mean, you're probably going to have to confess in the process, so..."

Yuto hadn't thought of that, giving Yamada a helpless expression. The phone was still ringing.

"Uh...

"Hello?" Keito picked up, voice startling Yuto. Yamada snapped his fingers in inspiration.

"Ask if you can go to his house!" He hissed.

"C-can I come over?" He asked the question clumsily, and Keito sounded concerned as he answered.

"Yeah, sure. I mean, my dad's not home, but..."

"That's fine." Yuto said, punching Yamada in the arm when his friend winked at him. "I'll, uh, be there in a minute or two."

"Okay."

Then Yuto hung up, Yamada clapping him on the shoulder.

"You can do it. It'll be great. It'll be fine. He's in love with you."

Yuto didn't know whether or not to believe Yamada as he left, his nerves twisting his stomach into a knot by the time he found himself outside Keito's door. He didn't even have to knock, the door being pulled open.

"I saw you walk up the porch, so I just..."

Yuto blinked a few times in surprise. Keito had a pink apron on over his clothes, a clip holding his bangs back. He noticed Yuto staring, giving an embarrassed smile.

"I hadn't unpacked my suitcase yet so I did some laundry and somehow that turned into cleaning the house, and... I'm making cookies now."

His cheeks were turning the color of his apron, and Yuto felt his own face heating up. Keito was precious.

"Want to help me?" Keito offered as soon as Yuto stepped inside, gesturing to the kitchen. Yuto nodded, and was almost able to forget his nervousness as he helped mix in the flour and chocolate chips and roll the dough into balls. As soon as they were in the oven and Keito had put the apron away, removing the clips and readjusting his hair, why he was there and what he was doing rushed back, and Yuto tried to steady his pulse.

"Are you here for your necklace?" Keito asked.

"...what?"

"You left your necklace last time you came over." Keito said, heading to his room. Yuto followed, Keito picking up the guitar pick necklace from his bedside table.

"Here..." Keito reached up, slipping the chain over Yuto's head, arms around his neck as he tried to fasten the clasp. He was so close and Yuto couldn't stop staring at him, Keito smiling as the necklace latched, saying "There."

"Keito--"

Then Keito looked and Yuto kissed him. It felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him, Keito leaning in to him gently, as his hand found the right side of Yuto's cheek. It all felt so incredibly right, Yuto breathless as he pulled back. He was so, so in love with Keito, the question spilling out.

"Keito, have you been seeing colors too?"

Keito beamed, nodding.

"Since the day I met you."


End file.
